Practical Test & Measurement: The Benefits of Using Structure-Borne Sound in Headset Signal Processing

This article looks at the practical test and measurement of bone conduction technology, as used in product development for headsets and in-ear devices. It showcases new possibilities for manufacturers to better evaluate device performance, since no appropriate test equipment and methods were commercially available until now. The approach, complements a Head-and-Torso Simulator (HATS) with an actuator capable of generating structure-borne sound in the artificial ear. This way, a realistic simulation of the human structure-borne voice signal for in-ear headsets is possible.. This article was originally published in audioXpress, January 2023.

This review discusses an invention that promises to successfully process an audio signal to focus an acoustic signal by an arrangement of a plurality of loudspeakers, using a frequency analyzer, a signal processor, and a signal output interface. The frequency analyzer is configured to determine a fundamental frequency and the signal processor configured to adapt an overtone of the fundamental frequency. An approach that can work quite well, even though there are well-known drawbacks that the patent intends to resolve.

Looking forward to serving the loudspeaker industry for another year, Voice Coil starts strong with a focus on Headphone OEM Devices and Parts, and a Spotlight article on speaker design, written by Brian Cho, the CEO of Resonado Labs. In his first Acoustic Patents column for 2021, James Croft writes about a signal processing system, allowing users to control a lower frequency acoustic range of a loudspeaker system, and Vance Dickason kicks off his Test Bench characterizations with the new Bold North Audio BWX-6502 Midbass, and the Wavecor TW022WA09 22mm textile dome tweeter.

QSC announced two new audio, video and control processors native to its Q-SYS Ecosystem – the smaller Q-SYS Core 8 Flex and Q-SYS Core Nano. Driven by the proliferation of networked endpoints and the expanding processing needs of a wider variety of spaces and topologies, the Core 8 Flex includes onboard analog audio I/O and GPIO plus network I/O while the Q-SYS Core Nano offers network-only audio I/O processing and control.

The Canada-based IP video processing pioneer Embrionix is now a part of Riedel Communications. With this combination of two success stories in state-of-the-art signal transport and processing for the media and entertainment markets, Riedel strengthens its expertise in IP-enabled hardware and software and further broadens its extensive portfolio of video solutions, opening up new possibilities in signal transmission and processing.